|
Here saffron has a four-year cycle. We plant it in September: after an abundant workmanship of the land we trace the furrows in which we simultaneously place the corms.
After the flowering of November the rows of the plants remain in the ground until April.
Toward the end of May we operate a first cutting of the grass, which we repeat at the end of September, this time followed by a very superficial workmanship to aerate the ground before new production.
At the 4th year, at the beginning of September, we explant the corms, polish up the thin tunics that cover them and replant them in another plot of land. In fact, since saffron a very impoverishing crop, for 4 years we alternate the explanted ground with other improving crops such as leguminoses.
|
|
|
All our work is in keeping with ancient traditions (you can personally ascertain this in November, taking part in the excursions among the blooming fields).
We start with the manual harvesting of the flowers. We do it every morning for about one month and, in the so-called days of "su grofu" ("highest production" in Sardinian language), it requires many people for many hours.
In the evening we sort out the threads (three per flower) and do "sa feidadura". It consists of touching saffron with our fingers just dipped in olive oil: this allows us to give it more brightness and to preserve it better. Finally we put the threads to dry.
This delicate intense manual process must be carried out in a short time to get the optimum final product.
All this makes this genuine crafted ingredient so valuable, giving its epithet: "red gold".
|
|
|
The harvest
We proceed to the harvest (strictly manual), which will last some hours
|
The trugs
The typical trugs with narrow mouth (which prevents the flowers fly away because of wind)
|
At home
At home we arrange the flowers on the table...
|
Mondatura
... and sort out the threads (three per flower), until night
|
|
